The police arrested seven persons on Sunday in connection with the Sanchaya scam in Kozhikode Corporation. The arrested have been identified as Aboobakker Siddique, a building owner, former Assistant Engineer P.C.K. Rajan, LD clerks M. Anil Kumar and P.K. Suresh, besides middlemen M. Yashir Ali, E.K. Mohammed Jiffri and P.K. Faisal Ahmed. The team led by Assistant Commissioner M.M. Siddique is questioning the arrested.
The arrest has been made based on a complaint filed by Corporation Secretary K.U. Bini regarding the allotment of numbers to 16 shop rooms in six buildings.
Aboobakker Siddique, the owner of a building in Karikkamkulam, had approached Mr. Rajan at first with his demand. He was later introduced to Mr. Anil Kumar and Mr. Suresh. The latter was the one to misuse the glitch in the software to provide a building number, the police said. The arrested have confessed to have taken a bribe of ₹4 lakh from a building owner for the purpose. They have been charged for treachery and conspiracy. Investigations are on to find if there are more people involved in the case.
‘Tip of an iceberg’
Meanwhile, the UDF has alleged that those arrested were only the tip of an iceberg and that there was a huge lobby behind the scam. UDF Parliamentary Party leader K.C. Shobhita alleged that the details provided by the Secretary were partial and repeated the demand that she should step aside to aid fair investigation. “There should be an investigation into whether the list provided by the Secretary was correct. She has the power to divert the direction of the investigation,” she alleged.
On the other hand, the combined protest committee of employees is rejoicing over having their point proven and is not ready to back out of the protest unless the suspension of the four employees is revoked. “None of the suspended employees are among the arrested. They should not be subjected to shame if they are not proven guilty,” said T. Anil Kumar, district president of the Kerala Municipal and Corporation Staff Union. However, the Mayor has asked for time till Tuesday and hence, the indefinite strike proposed for Monday has been postponed to Wednesday.
